Chapter Overview
Summary
Exodus 14 is the Red Sea crossing — the Exodus narrative's decisive military and theological climax. Pharaoh pursues, Israel cries out in panic, Moses' faith-declaration supplies the 'stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD' formula, the sea parts, Israel crosses on dry ground, and Pharaoh's army drowns. The chapter's LXX form supplies the 'salvation of the LORD' (sōtēria kyriou) vocabulary that becomes NT soteriological shorthand, the baptism-into-Moses typology of 1 Corinthians 10, and the faith-crossing reference at Hebrews 11:29.
Notable Variants
The 'salvation of the LORD' formula at 14:13 (sōtēria kyriou); the 'the LORD will fight for you' at 14:14 (kyrios polemēsei peri hymōn); the 'waters as a wall' passage at 14:22, 14:29 rendered with teichos (and echoed in 1 Cor 10:1–2); the 'gain glory through Pharaoh' at 14:4, 17, 18 using endoxasthēsomai; the 'believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses' at 14:31 cited at Heb 11:29.
Structural Notes
LXX Exodus 14 preserves MT's 31-verse structure.
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
The divine speech-introduction tracks MT.
"Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon. You shall camp opposite it, by the sea.
The specific geographic instructions (Pi-hahiroth, Migdol, Baal-zephon) track MT. The LXX transliterates these Egyptian place-names.
Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.'
Pharaoh's anticipated response ('they are wandering aimlessly') tracks MT. The divine entrapment strategy — making Pharaoh think Israel is trapped — is preserved.
I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and through all his army, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." And they did so.
Masoretic (WLC)
וְאִכָּבְדָה בְּפַרְעֹה
I will gain glory through Pharaoh
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ ἐνδοξασθήσομαι ἐν Φαραω
And I will be glorified in Pharaoh
The Hebrew kaved niphal ('be heavy, be honored, gain glory') is rendered endoxasthēsomai ('I will be glorified'). The endoxazō verb is the LXX's distinctive vocabulary for the divine self-glorification motif that runs through the Exodus-and-prophets tradition.
2 Thessalonians 1:10 ('when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints,' endoxasthēnai en tois hagiois autou) uses this LXX verb for Christ's eschatological glorification in his people — inverting the Exodus pattern: the judgment of enemies there becomes the glorification in saints there.
The theme of God glorifying himself through resistance-and-judgment is developed through chapters 14–15 with five occurrences of endoxaz- verbs.
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people, and they said, "What have we done, that we let Israel go from serving us?"
Pharaoh and his servants' change of heart ('what have we done?') tracks MT. The LXX's verb metetrapē ('was turned around') captures the decisive shift.
He made his chariot ready and took his army with him.
Pharaoh's chariot-preparation tracks MT.
He took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.
The six hundred chosen chariots and officer-cadre tracks MT. The martial preparation is staged as a formal Egyptian military campaign.
The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out defiantly.
The LORD's hardening of Pharaoh and Israel's 'defiant' (hypsēlē cheiri, 'with a high hand') departure tracks MT. The same phrase at Numbers 33:3 describes the Exodus-exit posture.
The Egyptians pursued them — all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, his horsemen and his army — and overtook them encamped by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
The Egyptian military pursuit and overtaking of Israel at the sea tracks MT.
As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel lifted up their eyes, and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified, and the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD.
Israel's panic ('they cried out to the LORD') tracks MT. The eboēsan pros kyrion verb is the standard LXX cry-of-distress formula.
They said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us out to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
Israel's bitter complaint to Moses tracks MT. 'Is it because there are no graves in Egypt?' is one of the most barbed complaints in the Hebrew Bible, preserved in LXX's plain Greek.
Is this not the very thing we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."
Israel's wish for continued Egyptian slavery tracks MT. The wilderness-longing-for-Egypt motif will recur throughout Numbers (11:5, 14:3, 21:5).
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Masoretic (WLC)
הִתְיַצְּבוּ וּרְאוּ אֶת־יְשׁוּעַת יְהוָה
Stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD
Septuagint (LXX)
στῆτε καὶ ὁρᾶτε τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου
Stand and see the salvation which is from the Lord
Hebrew yeshua YHWH ('the LORD's salvation') is rendered sōtēria para tou kyriou. The standing LXX 'salvation of the LORD' formula carries directly into NT soteriological vocabulary: Luke 1:69, 77 (Zechariah's Benedictus: 'he has raised up a horn of salvation … to give knowledge of salvation to his people'), Luke 2:30 (Simeon's song: 'my eyes have seen your salvation,' eidon hoi ophthalmoi mou to sōtērion sou), Acts 28:28 (Paul: 'this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles').
The verb sōzō ('save') and the noun sōtēria ('salvation') — the NT's core soteriological vocabulary — derive their covenantal resonance from LXX texts like Exodus 14:13.
The name Yeshua / Iēsous itself means 'YHWH is salvation' — etymologically tied to this verse's yeshua. The Christological significance compounds: the one named Salvation is the one who bears the Exodus-14 promise.
The LORD will fight for you, and you need only be still."
'The LORD will fight for you' (kyrios polemēsei peri hymōn) tracks MT. The divine-warrior theology underlies the Song of the Sea (Ex 15) and carries into LXX Isaiah, Revelation, and the NT's spiritual-warfare vocabulary.
The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to move forward.
The divine command to 'move forward' (anazeuxatōsan) tracks MT. The pragmatic action-now response to Moses' prayer is preserved.
Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the sons of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.
The command to lift the staff and divide the sea tracks MT.
And I — I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
The divine hardening of Egyptian hearts ('so that they go in after them') tracks MT. The endoxaz- verb repeats from v. 4.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained glory through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen."
The 'that they may know I am the LORD' refrain and divine-glorification-through-Pharaoh theology tracks MT.
Then the angel of God who was going before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
The 'angel of God' moving between Israel and Egypt tracks MT. The angelos theou / stylos nephelēs pairing identifies the angel with the pillar of cloud — the same angelic-pillar Acts 7:38 will call 'the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai.'
coming between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. It was cloud and darkness to the one, yet it gave light by night to the other. Neither came near the other all night.
The cloud's dual function (darkness for Egypt, light for Israel) tracks MT. The theme of the same divine presence being simultaneously salvation-for-one and judgment-for-another is consolidated into NT theology at 2 Cor 2:15–16 (Paul: 'to one a fragrance of death to death; to the other a fragrance of life to life').
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea into dry ground. The waters were divided.
The east wind drying the sea and dividing the waters tracks MT. The LXX's anemos notos ('south wind') is actually a different direction from the Hebrew east wind — a divergence preserved in the LXX manuscript tradition.
The sons of Israel went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters as a wall to their right and to their left.
Masoretic (WLC)
וְהַמַּיִם לָהֶם חוֹמָה מִימִינָם וּמִשְּׂמֹאלָם
with the waters as a wall to their right and to their left
Septuagint (LXX)
καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοῖς τεῖχος ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ τεῖχος ἐξ εὐωνύμων
and the water for them a wall on the right and a wall on the left
The LXX's teichos ('wall, defensive fortification') — rather than a softer word like toichos ('interior wall') — intensifies the image. The sea's waters are a fortification for Israel.
1 Corinthians 10:1–2 ('all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea') draws on this specific LXX crossing-narrative. Paul reads the crossing typologically as Israel's corporate initiation — a figure of Christian baptism.
Hebrews 11:29 ('by faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; when the Egyptians attempted to do so, they were drowned') cites this moment as an act of faith. The through-the-sea-by-faith category becomes NT imagery for deliverance.
The Egyptians gave chase and followed them into the middle of the sea — every one of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and cavalry.
The Egyptian pursuit into the sea tracks MT.
In the morning watch the LORD looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian army into confusion.
The 'morning watch' (phylakē prōinē) and divine looking-down through the pillar tracks MT.
He clogged their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!"
The chariot-wheel-clogging tracks MT. The LXX's synedēsen ('bound together') is a vivid Greek verb for the immobilization.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen."
The command to return the waters tracks MT.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. The Egyptians fled into it, and the LORD swept the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
The sea returning and the LORD 'sweeping the Egyptians' tracks MT. The verb etinaxen ('shook off, cast off') is the same verb used at Nehemiah 5:13 and Acts 18:6 for decisive removal.
The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen — all the army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea. Not one of them remained.
The total destruction of Pharaoh's army ('not one of them remained') tracks MT. The absoluteness is preserved.
But the sons of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, with the waters as a wall to their right and to their left.
The parallel rescue-of-Israel verse — 'walking on dry ground through the sea, with the waters as a wall to their right and to their left' — echoes v. 22 and frames the crossing narrative.
In this way the LORD rescued Israel that day from Egyptian power, and the Israelites saw Egyptian soldiers lying dead along the shore.
'The LORD rescued Israel' tracks MT. The esōsen kyrios formula that recurs across Exodus and into Christian baptismal theology is consolidated here.
Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, and the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.
Masoretic (WLC)
וַיַּאֲמִינוּ בַּיהוָה וּבְמֹשֶׁה עַבְדּוֹ
they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses
Septuagint (LXX)
ἐπίστευσαν τῷ θεῷ καὶ Μωυσῇ τῷ θεράποντι αὐτοῦ
they believed in God and in Moses his servant
Hebrews 11:29 ('by faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land') takes this episode as a pistis-paradigm for Israel. The LXX's episteusan (aorist of pisteuō) is the same verb LXX Genesis 15:6 uses of Abram, establishing the faith-continuum from Abram to the crossing generation.
The LXX's therapōn ('servant, attendant') for Moses repeats Numbers 12:7's characterization. Hebrews 3:5 ('Moses was faithful in all God's house as a therapōn') draws on exactly this LXX vocabulary.
Israel's believing-in-the-LORD-and-in-Moses is foundational for the 'faith in God' and 'obedience to his servant' duality that NT faith-theology builds on. The belief-in-a-mediator-of-God motif traces to this LXX verse.